September 5, 2010

That line appears at 1:58 in this clip from the great Marx Brothers movie "Duck Soup":

It's a funny scene with all sorts of things in it, such as Harpo surreptitiously cutting off the man's pocket and using it as a bag for his peanuts. (Yeah, count the phallic symbols.) But that line — "Will you quit annoying me?" — has stuck with me for many years as a particular type of funniness. I was IM-ing my son John about it this morning.

Me:

do you remember the line "stop annoying me" --- finding that really funny? what movie and how would you explain why we thought it was so funny?

John:

"would you quit annoying me!!!"

Duck Soup [+ link to the above clip]

similar to W.C. Fields in It's a Gift saying, "I hate you"*

In a comedy you expect wit, wisecracks, innuendo .... So it's funny if someone blatantly says the obvious thing you've been watching for several minutes.

Me:

thanks!!!

it's the element of surprise, but the surprising thing is its flatfootedness

it's surprisingly ordinary

John:

Also, it's funny for someone to openly say what they think of someone as if there are no social inhibitions

Reminds me of a scene in The Office (last episode of season 2) where Michael Scott is talking to everyone in the office about they're going to have a gambling night in the warehouse....

Michael Scott: Oh, and another fun thing. We, at the end of the night, are going to give the check to an actual group of Boy Scouts. Right, Toby? We're gonna...

Toby: Actually, I didn't think it was appropriate to invite children since it's, uh, you know, there's gambling and alcohol. And it's in our dangerous warehouse. And it's a school night. And, you know, Hooters is catering. Is that enou-is that enough? Should I keep going?

Michael Scott: Why are you the way that you are? Honestly, every time I try to do something fun or exciting, you make it not... that way. I hate... so much about the things that you choose to be.

Ha ha.

Speaking of analyzing exactly why something is funny, I put a lot of thought into the title of that blog post last night with the praying mantis. Originally, I had "Non Compos Mentis Campus Mantis," then, thinking it might be off-putting to start in Latin, I made it "Campus Mantis: Non Compos Mentis." Then, this morning, I was sorry I switched it. "Non Compos Mentis Campus Mantis" seemed much better — kind of like a 3 Stooges title. Looking at all the 3 Stooges titles, I'm not really sure why.

For years, I was unable to stop from bursting out laughing every time I tried to tell people about the scene from Ace Ventura where he goes over to the rich guy and says, "Thanks for the free parking."

You can get rid of me. I am just one small cog in the large operation that supports America and the administration. As a consultant, I advice clients everywhere how to win races (at all levels). It is my belief - and I am totally correct - that we will be victorious come November. Voters care about the country. Starting Tuesday, they will realize how bad/poor/flawed the other side (i.e., GOP/Tea-Party) is. It will come day by day, drip by drip. As a matter of professional courtesy, I am sharing here. It will really be the beginning of the end. You will feel it every day.

Dust Bunny: Boy. Humor has sure changed. I don't find the Marx Brothers in that first clip the least bit funny or entertaining.

I agree. The clip is mean-spirited. The humor consists of two smaller but more verbal partners making a fool out of a bigger slower guy who has the misfortune to be working nearby. It seems like a revenge fantasy by small but clever writers who got pushed around in grade school.

Kennedy had been featured in the earlier Hal Roach shorts directed by Leo McCarey, who directed "Duck Soup" and brought him in to serve as Harpo and Chico's adversary. It was also about the time he was starting his long-lived two-reel comedy series over at RKO, where the premise -- Edgar being constantly annoyed to death by his wife, mother-in-law, brother-in-law and a variety of other irritating people -- pretty much was the template for an untold number of future television situation comedies.

As a kid growing up I watched many of the Hollywood classics on morning tv during summer vacation, or afternoon tv after school during the year, and I always liked the Marx Bros. and W.C. Field, but I preferred the brothers. As I got older, my preference changed, and I find W.C. Fields richer and more adult. In a sense, the Marx Brothers were the Three Stooges without Groucho's verbal humor...which allowed sophisticates of the time to admit liking the Marxes while scorning the Stooges.

I'm less inclined now to watch either the Three Stooges or the Marx Brothers.

I also did and still do love the musicals: Busby Berkely and Astaire and Rogers.